USPS Clothing Line to be Sold Next Year

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) has announced a new partnership with Cleveland apparel manufacturer Wahconah Group. The companies will create the “Rain Heat & Snow” line of apparel and “accessory products.”

The clothes will be designed around the unofficial USPS creed, “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.” The clothing will feature USPS branding and could include some sort of “smart apparel” electronic devices.

“This agreement will put the Postal Service on the cutting edge of functional fashion,” said Steven Mills, USPS Corporate Licensing Manager. “The main focus will be to produce Rain Heat & Snow apparel and accessories using technology to create ‘smart apparel’ – also known as wearable electronics.”

This announcement comes soon after the USPS announced a net loss of $1.3 billion during the first quarter of its 2013 fiscal year. As a result of that announcement, the company has planned to use a congressional loophole to end Saturday mail delivery on August 5. USPS estimates that cutting Saturday mail delivery could save as much as $2 billion each year. Though that may be enough to help the Postal Service limp through another year of declining First-Class Mail volume and government-mandated pre-funding of retiree health benefits, it seems that the company is now looking for outside-the-box solutions (such as fashion) to its money woes.